Sens Continue To Thrive in December with 3-1 Win Over Preds
A Tasty Victory On Gravy Boat Night
November is over and you can tell by the complete turnaround in the Ottawa Senators’ chances of winning games. Maybe the calendar-based curse is real?
The Sens were coming off an exciting win against the Detroit Red Wings and playing their second game of a four-game home stand. Facing a Predators team that has not only struggled to win but even to score at all, expectations were high for the Sens. Unfortunately, lately, it is specifically the games that they should win that end up being the biggest disappointments. Not so tonight!
The Sens started off the game on a bit of a sloppy note, with turnovers handing the Preds chances they had no business having. The bright side of the first frame was that it seemed to have warmed up Linus Ullmark who was a big part of why the game remained scoreless. Knock on wood but his early season struggles seem to be well behind us.
The Sens started playing better and getting more chances towards the end of the period but they were having a hard time challenging Saros who was looking like a brick wall.
The second period started and it seemed the Sens had a good lecture in the first intermission from Travis Green as the team came out flying, with only Saros standing between them and the lead. In true December fashion though, the Sens kept pushing until we got to see our little Jacob Bernard-Docker score his first goal of the season. Tim Stützle and Adam Gaudette continued their great seasons with an assist each on the goal.
The Sens subsequently didn't have much luck against a superb penalty kill from the Preds but they were playing some of the best second-period hockey they've had all season.
The good fortunes continued for the Sens when a shot by Claude Giroux went off Steven Stamkos's skate to give them a 2-0 lead.
While the Sens were playing with a lot of confidence and focus, it was Ullmark making the key saves that allowed this period to go as smoothly as it did.
The Preds were getting frustrated and more physical, trying to find a way to get momentum back into the game but the Sens came out of the period with a 2-0 lead and full control of the game.
With 20 minutes left, the Sens continued their "mature" approach to the game. Ullmark was only getting better as he faced a more desperate Preds time trying to get anything going for them. The highlight of the period may have been an entertaining penalty kill by the Sens where they were toying around with the Preds after Stützle was unfairly called simply for wanting to piggyback on Adam Wilsby. Our German son should be able to do whatever he wants.
Both teams continued to push in the third but with 7 minutes left, Nick Cousins got a clean breakaway opportunity and he made no mistake to bury the insurance goal giving the Sens a 3-0 lead.
The Sens had the golden chance of completely finishing off the game with a powerplay with less than 5 minutes left but instead, they gave the Preds some momentum to try and get back into the game. With less than 2 minutes away from a shutout, Fedor Svechkov scores to make it 3-1 ruining the bid. The Sens felt the pressure but ultimately were able to keep the Preds down by two to win their second game in a row. A tidy win highlighted by a stellar performance from Ullmark, who finished with 37 saves.
The Sens will try to go for a third win in a row and a 4-game point streak tomorrow against the Islanders. With the win tonight, they hit the .500 mark in December for the first time since the 2016/2017 season.
